00:00Fantastic. Hello, my name's Andrew Moyer from the Border Mail and I'm here with Hamish McKinlay.
00:04We're talking footy and life. Hamish, it took you 10 years to get to your 100 games.
00:10I suppose it's the obvious, Christian. Why so long?
00:12Yeah, it was pretty much 10 years almost to the day earlier this year, Andrew.
00:17I think it was just a combination of, obviously, we all went through COVID,
00:20but I think I've worked out that I've missed about 50 games due to, yeah,
00:26a few different sort of injuries at different stages of my career.
00:29Yeah, so that's why it's taken so long.
00:31Just tell you through some of those injuries. I know some players get some really serious ones.
00:34Yeah, and obviously I've played a bit, including a bit of junior footy,
00:38I've played 20 or 30-odd games in the reserves as well.
00:42So, yeah, I think it was 2018, Sharpie's first year at the club,
00:47I had a meniscus injury in my left knee, missed the majority of that year,
00:52and then 12 months later in 2019, I re-injured that same meniscus.
00:57So, I decided to just have the entire year off, and then obviously COVID hit the next year.
01:03So, by 2021, I'd pretty much missed three seasons in a row.
01:08And then 2023, end of that year, I had a pretty bad injury in this ankle,
01:15a bit of tendon damage, a bit of bone bruising,
01:18and that forced me to actually miss quite a bit of footy in 2024.
01:23And then I missed a couple of games with a crook right ankle this year.
01:27So, knees and ankles pretty much, Andrew, yeah.
01:29Mate, you've got your own business, McKinlay Fencing.
01:32We ought to give it a wrap.
01:33Yeah, thank you very much.
01:34You're only 27, but does it get to a stage where you think,
01:37geez, these injuries are, you know, they're costing me dollars.
01:39Yeah, a little bit.
01:42The ankle injury I had on my right ankle this year,
01:45it was actually a bit of a carryover from last season.
01:50I did it, I rolled it pretty badly late last year, managed it through finals,
01:54and me being me, I couldn't help myself not playing cricket.
01:58So, you know, I sort of limped on it all cricket season.
02:02But, yeah, a lot of physio, podiatry visits, and it was, yeah,
02:07it was starting to add up, and I was at the start of this footy season
02:10a couple of times.
02:11I did sort of think, oh, geez, it's like I can't just keep doing it this way,
02:16if that makes sense, yeah.
02:18So that being the case, why couldn't you give up footy,
02:21or why do you love footy so much?
02:22And you could say the same for so many boys and girls, young boys.
02:26Yeah, I think it's just something I can't really put my finger on.
02:31It's just naturally sort of in me.
02:34Like, don't get me wrong, at the start of this year,
02:37the first four or five games, I probably shouldn't have really played.
02:40Like, my ankle would still give me a fair bit of grief,
02:42and didn't do a lot of pre-season training.
02:45But, yeah, there was just something in me there to sort of, yeah,
02:48try and play, help the club out.
02:50And, I don't know, I just love footy, I suppose.
02:53And, yeah, maybe I just can't help myself.
02:55You've got such a well-known name, the McKinlay name,
02:58at the Holbrook Footy Netball Club.
02:59What do you love about the Holbrook Footy Netball Club?
03:02I think there's a lot of things, but it kind of just feels like home.
03:07And I just, I think the thing I like,
03:10especially now me being sort of mid to late 20s,
03:14I love that I'm sort of mates with, you know, guys that are sort of 18, 20,
03:18but I'm also mates with guys in their mid to late 30s.
03:21And I just think that, you know, connection I have with all my teammates
03:27is probably my favourite thing about the club, I reckon.
03:29Yeah, just playing with really good people, yeah.
03:31That's been cool.
03:32I spoke about your surname being so well-known at the club there.
03:35Obviously, your Uncle Robbie's a club games record holder.
03:38Yes, yep.
03:39Now, we all love Robbie.
03:41Has he given you much advice with your footy over the years?
03:43He gives plenty of people advice.
03:45Yeah, he sure has.
03:45I'm sure he does with you.
03:47Yeah, he sure has, Andrew.
03:50He's probably one of the, along with my old man and a few other people,
03:54he's been a massive influence on my career.
03:56He's been watching me play since under-14s, you know, all the way through to right now.
04:01He's probably watched nearly every game I've ever played.
04:04That's a good effort for an uncle.
04:05Oh, 100%.
04:06He wouldn't have missed many.
04:07And he's always, the thing I like about him, he's always positive.
04:12And he understands the game so well that he can give you feedback.
04:16He can break it down really simply.
04:18And just a few little tips along the way.
04:21He doesn't, I wouldn't say, he doesn't overload you with information,
04:24but he'll just point a few things out.
04:26And, yeah, he's always encouraging you, always positive.
04:30Like, I could play the worst game ever and he'll still be like,
04:33oh, no, mate, you were all right out there.
04:35So, yeah.
04:36That's what family's for.
04:37Yeah.
04:38Just talking about your family, your father, George,
04:40such a stalwart of the club as well.
04:42Yeah.
04:42Unfortunately, he passed away from cancer in 29 at 58.
04:46Yeah, 19.
04:4721?
04:4821, yeah.
04:49How does a 21-year-old come to grips with that?
04:52And obviously, you've got your siblings, younger siblings.
04:55It was, yeah, it was pretty tough, obviously.
04:58And it probably, at the time, it probably didn't really sink in properly at the time.
05:04But I just think, just having really good friends and family and even, like, the girl
05:11I was with at the time, her and her family were really, really good.
05:16But, yeah, they were awesome.
05:18And my friends and extended family here, I, yeah, can't give them enough credit.
05:22They're just such good people.
05:25Yeah.
05:25What impact did Dad have on your life and, first, certainly from a secondary point of
05:29view, your sport?
05:30Yeah.
05:31I think the impact Dad had in life and footy pretty much goes hand in hand.
05:37I think he basically just set me, even though I lost him, you know, probably too young, he
05:42set such a great foundation.
05:45Yeah, he sort of always, you know, taught me to, you know, you're not going to get anything
05:49if you don't work for it, was number one.
05:52Like, with footy, it was always, you've got to get to training, you've got to train hard,
05:56you know, always encourage.
05:57Never, but he also, he had a great balance.
06:00Like, he never forced me to do anything.
06:02He was always encouraging me, you know, you know, if you want to get better, mate, go do
06:05some extras.
06:06But he was never, you know, riding me real hard.
06:09So, it was all about, you know, training hard.
06:11If you want to get something, you've got to work for it.
06:14And just being balanced.
06:15I think he was, if I played a good game, he'd tell me I played well, but he never, you
06:20know,
06:20pumped my tyres up too much.
06:21And if I played an ordinary game, he'd always say, oh, mate, I reckon you're better than
06:25that.
06:26But he'd never, he'd never go too hard at me.
06:29So, and that applied with school, sport, work, everything.
06:34And that's just, I think, just that foundation he gave me was really good.
06:39What do you miss most about Dan?
06:41Yeah, a lot of things.
06:43But probably, oh, geez, that is a tough question.
06:47I'll miss a lot about him.
06:48But probably just, probably just seeing his reaction if I achieve or do something.
06:53Like, obviously, he obviously didn't get to see me play in that 2022 grand final.
07:00And he's missed me, you know, score some runs in cricket and things like that.
07:04And even, even with my business, I never started my own business until a couple of years after
07:08he passed away.
07:09So, just, I would love to have just seen his reaction to me, sort of doing things like
07:16that.
07:16Yeah.
07:17Well, you became the man of the house, if you like, at 21.
07:20Did you have to grow up a lot quicker than a lot of other 21?
07:22Um, yes and no.
07:25Like, mum was, mum was really, really good.
07:27And we had such great support that I never, I never felt any pressure to, you know, like
07:33in a traditional sense, be the man of the house, if that makes sense.
07:37But, yeah, I just think natural, maybe without knowing it, I did anyway.
07:41Um, uh, yeah.
07:43And I think even, it's probably hit me more now, I reckon, you know, looking, looking
07:49back and now you sort of, you know, like if you've got something and you're, like, you
07:53know, I can't lean on dad for advice or things like that.
07:56You do have to sort of work out a few things, um, on your own, um, despite having, you know,
08:01Uncle Robbie, Uncle Gordo and my good mate to give me a lot of support too.
08:06And just on the family, Ewan, your younger brother, just only came out today, he signed
08:11a two-year contract with Port Adelaide.
08:13Brilliant news.
08:13You must be super proud of him.
08:15I mean, he's a trivially young fella, but he's a wonderful footballer.
08:17Yeah, he is.
08:19Unbelievably proud.
08:20It was, uh, you know, and he was only, look, he'd just turned 16 when dad passed away,
08:24so it's pretty phenomenal, uh, what he's, what he's been able to do in his footy.
08:29You know, he obviously, um, you know, he only just got picked up by the Murray Bush Rangers.
08:33They hardly had any interest in him, didn't get a whole lot of interest from AFL clubs,
08:38didn't get picked up out of the Bush Rangers, and a lot of kids like that, they, uh, you
08:41see it time and time again, they just, you know, sort of half give up and, which is fair
08:46enough, but, you know, you see kids like Ewan, Max Beatty and a few others go up to
08:50State League footy and they just keep grinding, grinding, working hard and, um, yeah, so, yeah,
08:55well, I think what he's done is, is a pretty special effort, yeah.
08:58Fantastic.
08:59Hey, Hamish, that's all we need.
09:00Well done on a hundred games and hopefully a hundred more to come.
09:03Yeah, I think dad played, dad played just over 200 games of senior footy, so if I could
09:08get to 200, um, and hopefully maybe win another flag along the way, that'd be good.
09:12I think Robbie played about a thousand games, no chance with him?
09:15I don't think so, I don't think, uh, Robbie obviously great player and was fortunate with
09:21injuries, I don't know if I'd quite get to him, but we'll see how we go.
09:24You don't want Robbie's body anyway.
09:26No, no, that's right.
09:28Thanks, Hamish.
09:28No worries, Andrew.
09:29Thank you, mate.
